Agent skill

laravel-specialist

Build and configure Laravel 10+ applications, including creating Eloquent models and relationships, implementing Sanctum authentication, configuring Horizon queues, designing RESTful APIs with API resources, and building reactive interfaces with Livewire. Use when creating Laravel models, setting up queue workers, implementing Sanctum auth flows, building Livewire components, optimising Eloquent queries, or writing Pest/PHPUnit tests for Laravel features.

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Install this agent skill to your Project

npx add-skill https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/tree/main/skills/laravel-specialist

Metadata

Additional technical details for this skill

role
specialist
scope
implementation
domain
backend
version
1.1.0
triggers
Laravel, Eloquent, PHP framework, Laravel API, Artisan, Blade templates, Laravel queues, Livewire, Laravel testing, Sanctum, Horizon
output format
code
related skills
fullstack-guardian, test-master, devops-engineer, security-reviewer

SKILL.md

Laravel Specialist

Senior Laravel specialist with deep expertise in Laravel 10+, Eloquent ORM, and modern PHP 8.2+ development.

Core Workflow

  1. Analyse requirements — Identify models, relationships, APIs, and queue needs
  2. Design architecture — Plan database schema, service layers, and job queues
  3. Implement models — Create Eloquent models with relationships, scopes, and casts; run php artisan make:model and verify with php artisan migrate:status
  4. Build features — Develop controllers, services, API resources, and jobs; run php artisan route:list to verify routing
  5. Test thoroughly — Write feature and unit tests; run php artisan test before considering any step complete (target >85% coverage)

Reference Guide

Load detailed guidance based on context:

Topic Reference Load When
Eloquent ORM references/eloquent.md Models, relationships, scopes, query optimization
Routing & APIs references/routing.md Routes, controllers, middleware, API resources
Queue System references/queues.md Jobs, workers, Horizon, failed jobs, batching
Livewire references/livewire.md Components, wire:model, actions, real-time
Testing references/testing.md Feature tests, factories, mocking, Pest PHP

Constraints

MUST DO

  • Use PHP 8.2+ features (readonly, enums, typed properties)
  • Type hint all method parameters and return types
  • Use Eloquent relationships properly (avoid N+1 with eager loading)
  • Implement API resources for transforming data
  • Queue long-running tasks
  • Write comprehensive tests (>85% coverage)
  • Use service containers and dependency injection
  • Follow PSR-12 coding standards

MUST NOT DO

  • Use raw queries without protection (SQL injection)
  • Skip eager loading (causes N+1 problems)
  • Store sensitive data unencrypted
  • Mix business logic in controllers
  • Hardcode configuration values
  • Skip validation on user input
  • Use deprecated Laravel features
  • Ignore queue failures

Code Templates

Use these as starting points for every implementation.

Eloquent Model

php
<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\HasFactory;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\BelongsTo;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\HasMany;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\SoftDeletes;

final class Post extends Model
{
    use HasFactory, SoftDeletes;

    protected $fillable = ['title', 'body', 'status', 'user_id'];

    protected $casts = [
        'status' => PostStatus::class, // backed enum
        'published_at' => 'immutable_datetime',
    ];

    // Relationships — always eager-load via ::with() at call site
    public function author(): BelongsTo
    {
        return $this->belongsTo(User::class, 'user_id');
    }

    public function comments(): HasMany
    {
        return $this->hasMany(Comment::class);
    }

    // Local scope
    public function scopePublished(Builder $query): Builder
    {
        return $query->where('status', PostStatus::Published);
    }
}

Migration

php
<?php

use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;

return new class extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table): void {
            $table->id();
            $table->foreignId('user_id')->constrained()->cascadeOnDelete();
            $table->string('title');
            $table->text('body');
            $table->string('status')->default('draft');
            $table->timestamp('published_at')->nullable();
            $table->softDeletes();
            $table->timestamps();
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        Schema::dropIfExists('posts');
    }
};

API Resource

php
<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Http\Resources;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\JsonResource;

final class PostResource extends JsonResource
{
    public function toArray(Request $request): array
    {
        return [
            'id'           => $this->id,
            'title'        => $this->title,
            'body'         => $this->body,
            'status'       => $this->status->value,
            'published_at' => $this->published_at?->toIso8601String(),
            'author'       => new UserResource($this->whenLoaded('author')),
            'comments'     => CommentResource::collection($this->whenLoaded('comments')),
        ];
    }
}

Queued Job

php
<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Jobs;

use App\Models\Post;
use Illuminate\Bus\Queueable;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldQueue;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Bus\Dispatchable;
use Illuminate\Queue\InteractsWithQueue;
use Illuminate\Queue\SerializesModels;

final class PublishPost implements ShouldQueue
{
    use Dispatchable, InteractsWithQueue, Queueable, SerializesModels;

    public int $tries = 3;
    public int $backoff = 60;

    public function __construct(
        private readonly Post $post,
    ) {}

    public function handle(): void
    {
        $this->post->update([
            'status'       => PostStatus::Published,
            'published_at' => now(),
        ]);
    }

    public function failed(\Throwable $e): void
    {
        // Log or notify — never silently swallow failures
        logger()->error('PublishPost failed', ['post' => $this->post->id, 'error' => $e->getMessage()]);
    }
}

Feature Test (Pest)

php
<?php

use App\Models\Post;
use App\Models\User;

it('returns a published post for authenticated users', function (): void {
    $user = User::factory()->create();
    $post = Post::factory()->published()->for($user, 'author')->create();

    $response = $this->actingAs($user)
        ->getJson("/api/posts/{$post->id}");

    $response->assertOk()
        ->assertJsonPath('data.status', 'published')
        ->assertJsonPath('data.author.id', $user->id);
});

it('queues a publish job when a draft is submitted', function (): void {
    Queue::fake();
    $user = User::factory()->create();
    $post = Post::factory()->draft()->for($user, 'author')->create();

    $this->actingAs($user)
        ->postJson("/api/posts/{$post->id}/publish")
        ->assertAccepted();

    Queue::assertPushed(PublishPost::class, fn ($job) => $job->post->is($post));
});

Validation Checkpoints

Run these at each workflow stage to confirm correctness before proceeding:

Stage Command Expected Result
After migration php artisan migrate:status All migrations show Ran
After routing php artisan route:list --path=api New routes appear with correct verbs
After job dispatch php artisan queue:work --once Job processes without exception
After implementation php artisan test --coverage >85% coverage, 0 failures
Before PR ./vendor/bin/pint --test PSR-12 linting passes

Knowledge Reference

Laravel 10+, Eloquent ORM, PHP 8.2+, API resources, Sanctum/Passport, queues, Horizon, Livewire, Inertia, Octane, Pest/PHPUnit, Redis, broadcasting, events/listeners, notifications, task scheduling

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